New Delhi [India], August 21 (ANI): China’s Ambassador to India Xu Feihong has said that the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for SCO Summit later this month “will be a very important event not only for the SCO but for the bilateral relationship between the two countries” and a working group from China and India is “preparing to make this visit a successful”.
He said China attaches great importance to PM Modi’s visit.
Xu Feihong referred to the outcomes of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to India earlier this week.
Wang Yi co-chaired the 24th round of the Special Representatives’ dialogue on the Boundary Question between India and China with the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on August 19 and held bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar a day earlier. The Chinese Foreign Minister also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 19.
Xu Feihong said the Chinese Foreign Minister and Ajit Doval had important discussions on the boundary issue.
“This time, during the Chinese FM visit to India, he had a very important talk with Mr Doval on the boundary issue. They reached a consensus on 10 points. Two groups will be set up by our two sides over the border issue. One group will be for border delimitation into appropriate sectors. The second group will focus on proper management of the border and border areas….We should not define the border issue as relationship between our two countries. The border issue is on one side, and cooperation between India and China is on the other side,” Xu Feihong told reporters.
“The visit of Prime Minister Modi to China will be a very important event not only for the SCO but for the bilateral relationship between the two countries. A working group from China and India are preparing to make this visit a successful one. We attach great importance to this visit,” he added.
During his visit, Wang Yi had handed over a message and an invitation from President Xi to the Prime Minister for the SCO Summit being held in Tianjin on August 31-September 1.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Xu Feihong had highlighted ten points of consensus from the 24th Round of Talks Between the Special Representatives (SRs) of China and India on the boundary question.
He said that the two sides spoke positively of the progress made in the implementation of the important leader-level consensus in Kazan, and shared the view that peace and tranquility has been maintained in the China-India border areas since the 23rd Round of SR Talks.
“The two sides reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas, emphasized handling the issue properly through friendly consultations, to promote overall development of the China-India bilateral relationship,” he said.
“Agreed on the need to take a political perspective of the overall bilateral relationship while seeking a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable framework for settlement of the boundary question in accordance with the Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the China-India Boundary Question signed in 2005,” he added.
The Chinese Ambassador to India had said the two sides agreed to set up an Expert Group, under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on the China-India border affairs (WMCC) framework, to explore Early Harvest of boundary delimitation on appropriate Sectors.
He said the two sides agreed to set up a Working Group, under the WMCC framework, to advance effective border management in order to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.”Agreed to create General-Level Mechanisms in the Eastern and Middle Sectors, in addition to the existing General-Level Mechanism in the Western Sector, and hold the next round of General-Level Mechanism meeting in the Western Sector at an early date,” he said.
“Agreed to use the border management mechanisms at diplomatic and military levels to carry forward the process of border management, and discuss de-escalation, beginning with the principles and modalities thereof,” he said.
Xu Feihong said the two sides exchanged views on trans-border rivers cooperation and agreed to give full play to the role of the China-India Expert Level Mechanism on Trans-border Rivers and keep communication on the renewal of relevant MoUs.
The Chinese side agreed to share hydrological information during emergency situations based on humanitarian considerations.
“Agreed to re-open the three traditional border trading markets, namely Renqinggang-Changgu, Pulan-Gunji and Jiuba-Namgya. Agreed to hold the 25th Round of SR Talks in China in 2026,” he said. (ANI)
